No plans and another dictatorship policy announcement

John Tamihere’s latest policy announcement to sell the
Ports of Auckland while excluding the trucking industry from
driving in Auckland’s CBD during normal working hours, is
a no-plan dictatorship statement says Mayoral Candidate
Craig Lord.

“Once again the former Central
Government MP is making bold announcements that are outside
his purview and quite simply his dictatorship wants” Lord
says.

“It’s not the first time and it won’t be
the last, but what he needs to remember is that the Mayor is
not the owner of a company that can make decisions without
democracy present. It’s pretty arrogant to think that 20
other councillors and the public that they represent will
simply be falling in line behind him and agreeing with those
wants”.

Lord feels the policy is insulting to
Aucklanders and the Councillors, and he also believes it to
be irresponsible.

“Saying that he already has
potential buyers, and he will be selling it via the Request
for Proposal tender system again shows the dictatorial
tendencies. Every current Councillor and potential
Councillor should now be on notice to this”

“That point aside, in regards to the truck ban, he
suddenly expects all the people involved with freight
logistics to change their lives by working at night, so
clearly he doesn’t care about all the families affected by
that idea. Adding to that, night work and banning or taxing
the trucking industry will have a detrimental effect on the
end cost of products, it’s nonsensical”

Lord is
also concerned that such a large announcement has no end
plan, except for saying that the land could be developed for
public use and real estate at the end of its lease.

“What if there is no new spot for the ports by then?
Where is the new build funding coming from because moving to
the Firth of Thames or Northland has an astronomical cost
involved. Would the new port owners be paying for it or will
the NZ taxpayer be stumping up just so some developers can
have a waterfront of valuable land? There’s a lot of
puffery talk but no substance”.

“What needs to
be remembered is that a city the size of Auckland, with its
continual growth rates, needs to maintain operations that
can cope with its freight demands. Auckland is a port city
for a reason. Interestingly, the ports already have a ‘30
year masterplan’ underway”.

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